


weather the storm

by jjhs



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, But mostly fluff, Fights, Fluff, M/M, Toronto, a lot of mark contemplating, at the end, this is really canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 13:49:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20292484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjhs/pseuds/jjhs
Summary: mark thinks that if hyuck wanted to carve out a space in his ribs and make a home right next to his heart, he’d sure as hell let the younger do it. he’d let hyuck do whatever he wanted to him. whatever he pleased, as long as it meant they would always have this.or, lee donghyuck storms out after a fight and mark lee quickly realizes the younger has no clue how to get around toronto and that there's a rainstorm coming his way.





	weather the storm

**Author's Note:**

> alternative title: he could be the silence (in this mayhem) from like i can by sam smith
> 
> it's 1:30 and i'm back on my posting bullshit
> 
> enjoy :)

"It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight."  
一 Vladimir Nabokov, _Lolita_

mark lee is fucking fuming. and, he feels like he always is when he’s around donghyuck. he can’t help it, that sometimes donghyuck pulls the wrong strings and something inside him just snaps. he wants to blame the pressure of touring, the exhaustion and mass headaches it brings.

but in reality he knows it’s just how him and hyuck work. if they aren’t sticking their tongues down each other’s throats they’re lunging at them. they’ve always fought, always argued, but tour makes it about ten times worse.

he’s standing in front of his front door, hands in fists at his side trembling and body turning red down to his stomach. he finds the closest thing to him that happens not to be a door and a widow and destroys it. unlucky pillow.

donghyuck is gone, having left without taking so much as his phone on the charger. mark rubs his eyes, tears stinging them. he hates when they’re fighting like this. knows it makes everybody miserable. knows it makes donghyuck miserable.

he just doesn’t know how to fix the problems. like the more they try the worse it gets. sometimes their only option is to just let it be. he inspects the pillow; it’s not in too bad of shape, just random dents here and there. mark puts it back on the couch.

he collapses onto his loveseat in front of his tv when a voice on hyuck’s phone says “heavy rain detected in your area” in english. mark groans, already annoyed. 

it takes him about forty seconds to realize A) hyuck’s phone spoke in english, B) they’re definitely not in korea, C) hyuck is alone in fucking toronto, and D) he’s about to get poured on in the middle of the night. mark’s heart leaps from his chest. of fucking course. of fucking course this would be the night hyuck leaves.

mark jumps up from the couch grabbing his phone next to hyuck’s and the car keys despite him not having a license. he doubts hyuck got that far away, but his legs could walk miles in minutes if need be.

mark pulls out of his driveway onto the street. he lives about five minutes from downtown and he’s not surprised when everything is lit up and there are tourists everywhere, he sighs, knowing that it’s better just to park and walk around.

he pulls into a spot that has a time limit of two hours and he doubts it’ll take that long to find donghyuck. though, if donghyuck doesn’t want to be found, he probably won’t be. mark should know after many years of friendship.

but, nonetheless, he starts his journey around the streets of his hometown. the rest of their members are at a hotel, and mark thinks maybe hyuck went to one of them. so, he walks the pretty short distance to the hotel.

he makes his way inside and takes the elevator straight up to the seventh floor and walks straight to johnny and jaehyun’s room. 

he’s at a loss for words when they tell him that hyuck came by, cried for a few minutes, before storming out and disappearing. they tried to get him to stick around, but he wouldn’t listen.

mark feels sick. he can’t stomach the thought of a crying hyuck in fucking toronto of all places.

he barely bids johnny and jaehyun a goodbye before he’s sprinting to the elevator and then sprinting down the steps when it takes too long.

he doesn’t know where to look for hyuck, what to do to even find him. he thinks he might start crying too. 

he hates that they’re like this. he hates the dysfunctionality and the confusion that comes with loving donghyuck. he hates he the breakups and the screaming, the crying and the hurting. he hates all the ups and downs, lefts and rights, twists and turns. 

it’s a never-ending rollercoaster. 

but, when mark thinks about it closely, he doesn’t want to get off. he’d rather ride until he throws up than just abandon ship.

there’s always good and bad. you have to suffer the rain to get the flowers, right? 

because more than there is bad, there is good. and it makes it worth it. so fucking worth it.

when mark thinks maybe, just maybe he should just give up, let donghyuck go for good, he can’t help but see hyuck’s face in his mind and realize, he couldn’t if he tried. his mind is addicted to hyuck, so reliant on him he’d probably go through withdrawal without him.

it’s love in some shape or form. it’s love that not many understand because they’re not mark or hyuck. they don’t get it, don’t see that even though there’s a shit ton of fighting, there are about a million more moments where they’re so in love it hurts _good._

it’s just one of those things. like, you love someone so much but your personalities clash. sometimes all the things you love about them become the things you can’t stand. it’s not actively wanting to find a reason to fight, just somehow ending up doing it anyway.

whatever it is, whatever they are, mark is getting fucking desperate. because he let donghyuck storm out in a city he doesn’t know. god, if something were to happen, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

in spite of everything, mark lee will never not be convinced that lee donghyuck was the best thing to ever happen to him. he doesn’t think there will be one passing day where he doesn’t think lee donghyuck crashing into his life and making it hell on earth was actually the best thing to ever, ever happen to him.

he has so much in this life. maybe he has money and fame. maybe he has fans. but, what does it even matter if you don’t have someone to share all the wonders of life with?

because, when mark looks over beside him as he stares out at thousands of people chanting his name, he wants to see hyuck right there next to him. when he’s watching a movie in bed, he wants hyuck there. when he’s brushing his teeth after a long day, walking through the store, eating dinner, crying in a public bathroom after a show, throwing up before an awards show. he can’t imagine those situations where donghyuck isn’t there. it doesn’t make sense.

he’s been walking for an hour and there’s no sign of hyuck. he doesn’t even know where he should go. hyuck doesn’t even know where to go.

it starts to drizzle and mark curses. goddamn it. he wanted to get hyuck back to the house without getting caught in the rain. about ten seconds later, it’s raining straight cats and dogs.

mark is soaking wet and slips into a little 24-hour coffee shop and wipes his face. he buys a coffee, glad to have something warm.

he takes a seat and checks the time. 4 a.m. already. he curses again. oh, god fucking damn it. they have a concert tomorrow and here he is, wandering the streets of toronto aimlessly looking for a boy who is also wandering aimlessly while it rains so hard the sound hurts.

he realizes quickly the situation is so him and donghyuck. and it makes him smile almost. no wonder it feels so familiar. it’s so donghyuck.

the rain lets up after a couple of minutes and mark doesn’t waste any time leaving the coffee shop and continuing his search for hyuck.

he decides just to walk about. it seems stupid and silly, but he’s not sure what else he can do. 

the storm starts again after thirty minutes and he darts into another 24-hour coffee shop. mark didn’t even realize there were this many in toronto.

5:30 a.m. is quickly approaching as he sits down in a seat with a large coffee in hand. he’s fucking exhausted and still hasn’t found hyuck. he groans and falls onto the table, eyes shutting. he doesn’t think he’ll be able to reopen them.

maybe, just maybe he falls asleep until 6 a.m. 

when he comes to, he checks the time and sighs heavily. sunrise is closer now and the storm has passed. he wonders what hyuck has been doing. if he’s been going into the same shops mark had been leaving.

mark gets up and buys another coffee before walking to his car and driving to ashbridge’s bay. he’s mad he hadn’t actually thought of that beforehand. though, in his defense, he hasn’t slept in probably close to 24 hours.

he parks and gets out of his car, walking on the pavement next to the water. it’s been so long since he’d been here, he forgot how serene it was. the calm in all the mayhem. the simple in all the complication.

he’s standing on the right side of the pavement and when he looks over to his left, there is hyuck on the other side staring back at him. it feels an awful lot like a k-drama.

he stands completely still. hyuck starts walking toward him. and, then he’s running at him full force. 

mark prepares himself to catch donghyuck, body more than ready to accept the slam it’s going to take.

hyuck jumps into mark’s arms, face nuzzling in the older’s neck and arms wrapping so tight around his upper body he loses his breath. mark stumbles backward, but the impact to his body is so minuscule in comparison to what it does to his heart.

_oh, thank god._

“you’re safe,” mark murmurs, unable to let hyuck go. “you’re okay.”

hyuck is crying and mark doesn’t doubt it’s from sleep exhaustion and the fact that he’s still wet from the rain. 

mark let’s hyuck do whatever he wants, cry however much he needs to. he just kisses whatever he can reach. hyuck’s shoulder, his neck. whatever there is to kiss, he does.

“i’m so sorry,” hyuck sobs, “i’m so sorry we got into that fight. i’m so sorry we’re always fighting, mark lee.”

mark just shushes him. “it’s not your fault, hyuck.”

“it always feels like it,” hyuck admits, sniffling. “we fight so goddamn much it’s hard to tell who’s right and wrong anymore.” 

hyuck’s legs start to give out on him, forcing mark to carry all the slack. he decides to sit them down on the edge of the pavement, let their legs dangle over for the time being.

hyuck slumps into mark’s side, upper body practically in his lap. mark runs his hands through hyuck’s hair, eyes barely able to stay open.

mark looks down and hyuck is angelic. he’s always been mark’s angel on earth, the person who grounded him. he seems unreal, and mark isn’t afraid to tell him.

hyuck smiles softly. “i love you, mark. more than i've ever loved anyone in my entire life.”

usually, mark would argue with him, asking the younger about his parents or siblings, but this time he just hums. “i love you more, hyuck. so much more.”

the sun is rising when mark looks out over the water, and boy, does he feels like shit. 

but, as the sun paints the sky orange and pink, lighting up the sky, mark _knows_ hyuck does that to his life. whatever dark and scary shade of grey mark is seeing, hyuck turns it into the prettiest sunrise that exists. there’s no other way to describe it.

the sun is completely up before they leave. and, it’s around seven when mark decides they need to head home. hyuck has fallen asleep, eyes puffy and cheeks stained with tears. he doesn’t want to wake him up, but he does anyway.

“c’mon, babe. let’s go home.”

“home,” hyuck whispers, eyes still closed. he hesitantly opens them and looks at mark’s face. the older doesn’t look much better. “you look like shit.”

“so do you,” mark smiles even though he probably shouldn’t. he _should_ fight about it, but he just doesn’t have the energy for it.

they stumble to mark’s car, hyuck practically forcing mark to carry him. had mark been a little stronger, he probably would’ve, but he barely had the energy to carry his own weight.

they tumble into his home, heading straight for mark’s old room. they both strip down to their boxers before hyuck changes into mark’s hoodie. they climb into mark’s bed, hyuck laying his head on mark’s chest and making himself comfortable like he’s made a home out of mark’s body.

mark thinks that if hyuck wanted to carve out a space in his ribs and make a home right next to his heart, he’d sure as hell let the younger do it. he’d let hyuck do whatever he wanted to him. whatever he pleased, as long as it meant they would always have this.

the peace after the hurricane. the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. the wizard's castle at the end of the yellow brick road. it goes on and on.

whatever paradise you can dream, that’s what this is to mark. 

he knows it’s going to be hell in a few hours. he knows he’s going to wake up and his body is going to hate himself, but when his lips touch hyuck's he doesn’t give a rats ass. fuck it all.

hyuck kisses mark on his cheek, his nose, his forehead. he kisses what he can reach before kissing mark’s slightly chapped lips again.

“you’re the best boy i’ve ever known,” hyuck tells mark, making him blush. “the best thing to ever happen to me.”

mark smiles softly, eyes barely open. “god, am i lucky to have you.”

hyuck falls asleep, content with mark’s words. mark is asleep as soon as he feels hyuck’s breathing slow and hears his little snores.

even in his dreams, hyuck appears. and, even in his dreams, he would weather the worst storm for donghyuck every time.

**Author's Note:**

> not to be that person but markhyuck is .... chefs kiss
> 
> comments/kudos very much appreciated 
> 
> \- liv <3 :,,,,,)
> 
> [twit](https://twitter.com/flirtmarkno)
> 
> [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/marknohyuck)


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